Interviews: Funeral For A Friend

"Screamo, emo, metal, thrash, new-wave country - whatever, I can't keep up, this is Funeral for a Friend from the UK - another band to get its rush and nudge through a major. Now they're international and touring America, teaching me words like gar-edge [aka garage]. This was one hell of an interview to type figuring out accents and the lingo - they were very entertaining & amusing nonetheless. Click READ MORE to check out how they use muscle toners on faces, Matt's playful nickname for Darran and why dying your hair black is so overrated..."

Names, positions, ages, amuse me…

MATT: My name is Matt, I'm 24 and my favorite position is doggy-style b>

DARRAN: I was going to say that! My name is Darran I play guitar, I'm 29 B>

M: No he likes the monkey it's when you grab on to the back of her legs and like… imitate monkeysâ ��

D: No I think I like it n op.

M: Oh, he's a top man.

How does your mom describe your sound?

M: My mom describes it as noise but with a bit of singing pretty uc …

D: Yeah, my mom is sort of the same way when people ask 'what sort of band is he in?'- 'Oh I don't really know? It's just really noisy I don't really like i m ch.'

M: There's not a washboard in it! (laughs)

Does your name ever make people slightly abrasive to hearing you guys for the first time?

M: Yeah pretty much but itâ� ™ our faults.

D: Yeah Matt came up with the name and most of us were kind of like 'um it sounds a bit dark, gothic sort of Norwegian black metalish?'… But yeah- when people hear the name they usually get a sort of different idea of what w m ght sound like.

M: But usually they just go with it or the screaming, emo does his own screaming a little bit or some shit like that. But I don't care I'm happy with what I do I'm content.

D: Even after a while we gradually just all got used to the name and sort of thought that for a while but then thought- well actually it's quite original. Doesn't sound like anybody else once you hear it once or twice you wo â �™t get it mixed-up.

M: I'd like to thank 'Planes Mistaken for Stars' for writing and recording 'Fuck With Fire' and calling their track 'Funeral For A Friend'. It's my favorite song off their rec rd which is why I chose it.

D: And it's got nothing to do with Elton Jo n ontrary to certain beliefs.

M: There's a lot of shit beliefs that people have these days but I guess people can't be asked to look hard enough so they go for the assumption- Elton John.

You guys released a few EP's before any international attention, are you still proud of those recordings, any big changes since then- would you want FFAF fans to pick-up those records?

M: Yeah, I think it's changed but I think it's still got elements of what we were back then. We av n't changed dramatically.

D: It's still got the 'Funeral' thread running through it but I think we'v p ogressed and developed our sound.

M: it's ot like we got a DJ in it or some shit.

D: The first EP we released was basically the first four songs we ever wrote. As we got further in o writing and recording the songs…

M: It's got a bit more rock I think.

D: The song writing I th nk between us has gotten a lot more comfortable.

M: Yeah I think a lot stronger- when you can comfortably hit your guitarist with a punch t t e face and make his nose bleed by accident…

D: Which he did this morning!

M: Then you know, you're in a comfortable position.

So explain the releases a bit, you have 2 releases but one U.S and one not…

M: Um we have an album out in the UK and Europe for the moment and Japan and stuff like that 'Casually Dressed Deep in Conversation'. But the U.S release- which is actually out right now called 'Seven Ways to Scream Your Name' is a compilation of the EP's that we released. It's not a full-length or any new stuff- it's just al o the things that we've had in the UK for a while.

D: Probably like 2 tracks are from two EP's plus there's like a demo track on there, something we re-recorded in between two EP's.

M: It's kind of like ne of those year discography things to show where we came from.

D: It shows the progression of the band.

Will North America get 'Casually Dressed Deep In Conversation'?

M: Yes, yes you will.

D: Of course you will, you really want it?

M: It's coming out in the United States July 13th. Some people think it's the end of April but no it's July.

Juneau was re-recorded, it sounds different as well as the spelling, what was up with that?

M: Yeah, only cause I fucked up the first time around. There' a band called Juneau and I thought that's how you spelt Juno…

D: Juneau as in…

As in the Canadian Awards every year.

D: As in the capital of Alaska. (laughs)

M: But that's what it was meant to be initially and I thought that that was the actual spelling but it was different so… And when we rerecorded it we'd had a chance to work with a really cool Producer called Colin Richardson- and the record label kind of wanted to give some of the older songs ha we felt we'd be able to give a new push, a new lease on life so…

D: Yeah t o e rerecorded but we did use two from the second EP but they were just remixed.

M: We did it maybe because that EP was only a very, unlimited release there was only something like se en thousand copies available or around there… and a different line-up mind you.

D: And the two tracks we did rerecord that were on the first EP, we basically recorded it in three days it was only ever meant to be a demo. The studio we used also had a record label side to it and they loved the songs so much they wanted to release it as an EP. So it went from being purely a demo for us to send out and to help set-up shows. To pretty much being our first release, first f ur songs we'd ever written. So we were signed before we'd even played a show.

M: Which is just…? Looking back on it now… at least if we would've gotte a bit of a grounding before actually having to go in a studio to record those songs…

D: Yeah it would have made a bit more sense but they're sort of rough recordings.

You guys seem to know each other for a really long time?

M: Never, I've only just recently started calling him by his first-name. Bitch wasn't working out too well. Hey I am boy fucker that's all- sometimes I like girls too but… I am not keen on Kris though, he's too hairy for my liking. Too much body-hair I've seen the crack of his ass, it meets his back-hair. He's like a Persian rug man.

You guys sound real somber, morbid in some of your lyrics also extremely metaphoric and never give any initial meanings to where songs are leading…

M: I don't give away meaning in interviews either. I never do interviews either (laughs)… No, no initially when we started doing interviews and stuff I hated explaining my songs, my words and I was really like- make up your own minds people, have a good go at it. But you know some are about relationships, some are about my personal viewpoints on the world around me. I neve t y to give things away too sappy or too easily because I like people to think on their own.

D: I think lyrically Matt always approaches stuff in a non cliché way.

M: Pretty much like Bon Jovi. (laughs)

D: Matt kind of writes his lyrics fr m a different angle, not the usual sort of cliché scenario words you tend to hear in some songs.

M: Well thank you there bitch, oh I mean Darran. But yeah I just write about what I know and what I know is, me- so there we go. No better thing to write about. I'm not going to write about politics, I know jackshit about politics pretty mu h. Instead I write about all the crap in my life and life that I experience around me with these fuckers.

D: Yo k ow we have to force plenty of crap into his life so, you know he's always got plenty to write about.

M: And you see I'm happy right now so you'l s e it's going to put a big dent in the next record so they're trying their best to make me unhappy.

D: It'll be a short career if he's too happy too long. (laughs)

The lay-out of each songs are different every time, do you work longer on writing the music than the lyrics, try to kill any stagnancy?

M: Oh yeah of course, when some people work a 9 to 5 in an office job we work in a garage.

D: We have an 8-track recorder in there and we demo all the songs in a very rough format in the garage.

M: Weâ �� ve all got different influences so that kind of lends itself towards the song writing process. I should hope so…

D: Even musically I think we �€™ve tried to approach every song with the point-of-view it's going to be the best song we've ever written.

M: But not a number one hit single or number two even…

Do you think in that format it could ever be a song you'd like?

M: No! I'd be against everything I do.

D: First and fo emost it's about keeping it musically interesting for us. It's got to be interesting for us to expect anything else.

M: I've had days where I've come to the garage and viewed a track. Initially the music just does nothing for me, where like I've had problems working things out with certain songs but the more you sit with something the mor y u kind of realize that by doing something yourself on the track you can make something different and it opens up the track a bit.

: ometimes it will be like me and Kris- we'll work out our guitar parts. Then Gareth and Ryan will come in to help arrange stuff.

M: Basically we tell them what to play.

D: NO! (laughs) And then Matt will come in there, with a song- usually in a rough sort of stage.

M: Yeah and then I take it to a new and wonderful place, 'I make it unbelievable.' (laughs)

Is this your first time in North America- worked-up any over reception?

M: No actually this is our second time we were out here last year. Darran was only out here fo h lf of the tour last time unfortunately. Because he's reckless! He's reckless, disobeying and breaking the law. A lot of explaining.

D: Actually, I had to wait for my visa to come through, so it ended up I missed the first week or so.

M: Why did you miss the first week? (bursts out laughing)

D: It's a long story…